


it's yeet or be yote

by buoyantsaturn



Series: auctober 2018 [14]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Costume Parties & Masquerades, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, M/M, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-08-01 18:40:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16289723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buoyantsaturn/pseuds/buoyantsaturn
Summary: Nico dressed up - he wasn’t about to show up without a costume, he wasn’t that lame - so he was dressed head-to-toe in black with bones on his sleeves and torso and pant legs, and his face was coated in so much face paint that he was almost unrecognizable. He figured that way, if he made a fool of himself at this stupid party, nobody would know who he was even if they went to his school.





	it's yeet or be yote

**Author's Note:**

> happy auctober!! i got distracted writing this one by planning an entire dnd campaign for my roommates but hopefully its still good!! enjoy!!

Most people assumed that Nico loved Halloween, solely because he dressed in all black and it was a holiday built around his personal aesthetic, but he could hardly stand the way that people celebrated it. He loved the month of October - the cooling weather, the crunch of dead leaves under his shoes, seeing Halloween decorations on people’s homes and in stores and at school even - but the way that people used Halloween as an excuse to party and get drunk and dress in overly revealing clothing and call it a “costume.” Personally, he preferred to spend Halloween at home, watching old horror movies in between handing out candy to the trick-or-treaters -  _ that _ was the true spirit of the holiday.

His sister, Hazel, didn’t see it the same way. Maybe it was because she was more extroverted than him, that she was so popular in school that she got invited to every party that was ever thrown, and she seemed to think that the  _ only _ way to spend Halloween was to have a huge party. She also decided that last Halloween was the last time that Nico would sit home and hand out candy to children, and she forced him to go with her to some party in the next town over - he wouldn’t even know anybody since the party would be full of kids from some other school. Hazel seemed to think that was a good thing, a good way to make new friends, or something.

Nico dressed up - he wasn’t about to show up without a costume, he wasn’t  _ that _ lame - so he was dressed head-to-toe in black with bones on his sleeves and torso and pant legs, and his face was coated in so much face paint that he was almost unrecognizable. He figured that way, if he made a fool of himself at this stupid party, nobody would know who he was even if they went to his school. 

Hazel had dressed up as a witch, complete with over-sized, pointy hat, and when they pulled up to the party, Frank was waiting for them, wearing a cat-ear headband with whiskers painted on his cheeks. As soon as the three of them were inside, Hazel and Frank ran off, ditching Nico to wander the party by himself. 

It was too loud, too crowded, and Nico hated it, but Hazel had the keys so he couldn’t leave. He wanted to find someplace quiet to hide out in and wait until Hazel was ready to leave, but he could barely even fight through the crowds to get around the house. He kept finding himself getting funneled back into the kitchen, refreshing his cup of punch every time he re-entered the room. He had no idea how much time had passed before he was stumbling through rooms, getting dizzy just from watching the people move around him, downing another cup of punch to clear his head without knowing that it was only going to make his drunken state worse. 

He’d lost track of how many drinks he’d had when he bumped into somebody on his way to get another cup - thankfully his was empty, or else he would have spilled it all over the tall, handsome cowboy he found himself pressed against in the small space of the hallway.

Handsome Cowboy wrapped his hands around Nico’s arms to steady him, smiling blindingly down at him and laughing when he said, “Damn, how much punch have you had?”

“I’unno,” Nico replied. “How much punch have  _ you _ had, Cowboy?”

Handsome Cowboy started to blush and he looked away for a short moment - Nico already missed staring into his beautiful blue eyes. “None, I’m DD. You have someone to drive you home later, right? Otherwise, I’m gonna have to ask for your keys so you don’t hurt anybody.”

“No, no keys,” Nico told him, and tried to look around, but Cowboy’s hold kept him in place. “I have a sister here somewhere, I think.”

“Okay, good. That’s good,” Cowboy said. “Do you, uh. Do you wanna dance with me, maybe? I don’t know if you saw, but the living room is kind of a dance floor right now.”

Nico scrunched up his nose at that. “I don’t dance, I just wanna sit but it’s too loud. And I haven’t seen any chairs anywhere, just a lot of people. Too many people. Do you know someplace that’s quiet?”

Cowboy’s smile softened as he listened to Nico talk. Nico wanted to kiss him. He’d never wanted to kiss a stranger before. Or a cowboy. But he wanted to now. “Why don’t we get you some water, first?”

Nico tipped his head to the side as he thought about it for a second. “Yeah, okay. Water sounds good.”

Cowboy led him into the kitchen and handed him a cup of water. It didn’t taste as good as the punch, but Nico drank it anyway. He asked again for a quiet place to sit, and then next thing he knew Cowboy was leading him through the crowds of people, up the stairs and back down again after a few moments. They made a lap around the main floor before finding a door that led to a basement, which was much quieter and much less crowded than the upper floors, which Nico greatly appreciated.

Cowboy brought him over to a couch, sitting down and patting the space next to him for Nico to sit. He tried to lower himself carefully onto the cushion next to Will, but found himself stumbling into his lap instead.

If asked, Nico would probably deny that he initiated the kiss, but could he really be blamed for it? With the way that Handsome Cowboy was staring up at him with those big blue eyes? And how it looked like he was leaning into it?

Handsome Cowboy’s hands came to rest on Nico’s hips as they kissed. Nico threaded his fingers into Cowboy’s hair and knocked his stupid hat off his head. They were so wrapped up in each other that they forgot about the other people in the room, no matter how far away they were. There were people upstairs, stomping on the ground, dancing to the blaring music, but Nico couldn’t hear it over Cowboy gasping into his mouth. 

After a moment - a minute? An hour? - Cowboy pulled back to breathe, staring up at Nico with black and white and gray face paint smeared all over his lips and cheeks and nose. Nico felt laughter bubbling up inside him at the sight, and he tugged at the bandana tied around Cowboy’s neck until it came loose, and started wiping the face paint from his cheeks.

“Are you going to answer your phone?” Cowboy asked, and Nico heard the ringing from his pocket for the first time.

“Oh,” Nico said, and pulled out his phone. The screen said Hazel’s name, so he answered it. He could barely hear her over the noise of the party and the buzzing in his own head, but he got the message that it was time to leave. He said to Cowboy, “My sister is leaving, so I have to go, too.”

“Oh,” Cowboy said, sounding disappointed. “Okay.”

Nico crawled off his lap, absentmindedly stuffing his phone in one pocket and Cowboy’s bandana in the other, and he started toward the stairs.

“Wait, you didn’t tell me your name!” Cowboy called after him, but Nico couldn’t hear him after he opened the door to the main floor. “I’m Will. Find me at school on Monday!”

 

Nico’s head was  _ pounding. _ He couldn’t remember much from the party the night before, but from the disastrous state his pillow case was in, he must have forgotten to wash off the face paint before he went to sleep. He sat up with a groan and pressed a hand to his forehead, feeling cloth against his face instead of skin.

He stared down at the bandana in his hand, confused. Where did that come from?

 

* * *

 

All day on Monday, Will searched for the pretty skeleton he’d made out with at that Halloween party, but he couldn’t find him. He’d started asking around on Tuesday, but nobody else seemed to know who he was, either. 

His friend, Piper, told him that she thought she’d seen a freaky skeleton kid walking into the party with her friend Hazel, who went to Jupiter High School in the next town over. Piper gave Will Hazel’s phone number, and he texted her to ask about the party. He remembered the pretty skeleton mentioning a sister a few times, so Hazel could be her, right?

When Hazel responded that she was at the party, Will asked about the skeleton boy, and if he was her brother. When she replied that he was, Will asked if there was any way that he could get into contact with him, explaining that they’d met at the party and didn’t get a chance to talk much before he had to leave. Hazel warned him that Nico - that was his name,  _ Nico, _ and what a beautiful name it was - had gotten so drunk at that party that he hardly remembered anything the next morning, but Will was welcome to stop by after school the next day if he really wanted to see Nico again. She’d even sent Will her address and a time to come over.

Will knew that he shouldn’t really be getting his hopes up. What if that was just what Nico did, got drunk at parties and made out with random guys and forgot about them by morning? What if he was one of those guys that was “only gay when he was drunk,” or even if he just wasn’t interested in Will at all?

He had to try, at least, so the next day after school, he drove to the next town over, following his phone’s GPS until he reached Nico’s house, and he knocked on the door.

After a few moments, the door opened, and Nico was standing on the other side. He was even prettier without the makeup, even though he looked like a deer caught in the headlights. 

“You’re the hot cowboy,” Nico said, and his face turned bright red as soon as he realized what he said. 

Will smiled and ducked his head. “Yeah, that’s me. And you’re the pretty skeleton boy.”

“Um,” Nico started, “wait right here.” Before Will could respond, the door shut in his face. Another second later, it opened again, and Nico said, “Shit, sorry, it’s cold out there, you should come inside, and, uh, still wait here.” He stepped out of the doorway and let Will into the house before closing the door again, and ran up the stairs.

In less than a minute, he came running back, a familiar red bandana in his hand.

“I, uh,” Nico said, holding it out to him, “I think this is yours.”

Will took it from him, letting their fingers brush as he did. “It is, yeah. Thank you.”

Nico scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Is that all you came here for?”

“No, actually, um,” Will replied, fiddling with the bandana in his hands. “Would you maybe wanna go get coffee with me?”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!! i'll see yall for the rest of auctober!


End file.
